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Oregon, Washington Health Insurance Exchanges Face Glitches

Health care exchanges in Oregon and Washington are facing problems on their first day of operation.

A Cover Oregon employee enters information into computers.

Cover Oregon

Applications at Cover Oregon won’t be fully processed for a week or so. Oregonians hoping to learn what health insurance they can get through the Affordable Care Act, will have to wait.

People working with facilitators can set up an account. But glitches at the new website mean that the customers won’t find out right away if they’re eligible for a tax credit, the Oregon Health Plan or Medicaid.

Cover Oregon Executive Director Rocky King said he wants to get it right.

“When you get a call from somebody who needs coverage and you say, you’ve got to wait another week, that hurts,” King said.

“I’ve been dealing with those calls for years,” he said. “At least now I can say, give me a week or so. Before I used to say, ‘I’m sorry.’”

The insurance details for about 260,000 people eligible for the Oregon Health Plan, have already been processed. Those people need only return the enrollment letter they received last week.